Giroud was Everton’s first-choice target to fill the hole left by Romelu Lukaku’s big-money move to Manchester United, and they were confident of landing him once the Gunners had signed Alexandre Lacazette. But that was before Jennifer Giroud put her foot down about a move to Merseyside.

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Adam also commented on Stoke’s summer transfer business. Asked by Match of the Day presenter Dan Walker whether the Potters were now stronger, he said: “We are, but we lost the key core to our group – you know Whelan, Walters, Bardsley went – so we’ve had to recruit differently.

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“But signing Ryan (Shawcross) on a big contract was a big deal for us, I think. There was a couple of clubs interested in him, but he’s a big player for us and our captain, and he only had one year left on his contract. So I think signing him up on a four-year contract is a good deal for us.”